What table says now is irrelevant, says Huddersfield Town’s David Wagner

HEAD COACH David Wagner has maintained his stance that the Championship table is “irrelevant” even though victory today would guarantee to take Huddersfield Town to within a point of the automatic promotion places, albeit possibly only for a couple of hours.

The Terriers head to Oakwell looking to claim a seventh straight league win, a feat the club last achieved in the 1982-83 season that culminated in promotion from the old Third Division.

Town’s run has piled the pressure on top two, Newcastle and Brighton, with Magpies midfielder Jack Colback admitting earlier this week that the Yorkshire side had become “irritating” due to their strong form.

Chris Hughton’s Seagulls will no doubt subscribe to a similar view if Huddersfield can win today at Oakwell, as it would mean just a point separates the two clubs going into their tea-time clash with Reading at the Amex Stadium.

Despite that, Wagner insists his only concern is how the Terriers fare today and not what impact results elsewhere may have on the table.

“It is irrelevant what the table says now,” said the German. “It only counts after 46 games in May. I didn’t know we were 12 points clear of seventh, for example.

“I do not think about what wins will be needed (to finish in the top two or play-offs) or anything like that.

“Only Barnsley is in my head and how we can cause them problems.”

Wagner dismissed speculation linking him with the Leicester City job following Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal before adding: “Whatever happens in the other stadiums does not influence us, just what happens at Barnsley.

“Of course, we are on a great run, but we have broken so many records this season that this record would be only for the stats freaks. We want to keep the run going, that is what matters.

I have had a run like this before when with the second team at Dortmund, we went to Bundesliga 3. We won 18 out of 20 at the end of the season. My only focus is the next game.”